Fledgling restaurant group The Fried Rice Collective — helmed by Mandu co-founder Danny Lee, Matchbox Food Group co-founder Drew Kim, and Scott Drewno, the award-winning, dim sum-making chef who left The Source at the end of April — plans to introduce itself to the D.C. dining scene via a collaborative project slotted for Barracks Row.
The inaugural restaurant, Chiko, is scheduled to move into the space formerly occupied by gourmet hot dog haven DC-3. A member of the Matchbox family of restaurants (Ted’s Bulletin is also in there), DC-3 closed up shop at 423 Eighth Street SE last June.
The announcement about the experimental concept, whose name appears to be a mash-up of the terms Chinese and Korean, was shared via social media. Lee would not get into specifics about the dining program. “All I can say is that it's going to be a collaboration of Scott's background in Chinese cuisine and of mine in Korean,” he told Eater.
Lee also said that he expects to open the restaurant before the end of the year.